Trial reportNeurorehabilitation and neural repair2018
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation May Improve Cognitive-Motor Function in Functionally Limited Older Adults.
Trial report in Neurorehabilitation and neural repair, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on gait and balance under dual-task conditions in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on cognitive function in older adults with cognitive impairments: the influence of dosage parameters.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2025Pooled it
- The Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Balance Control in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2020Pooled it
- Transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex increases gamma power and standing balance in older adults.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Trial
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation influences cognitive-motor dual-task performance in children with cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- The impacts of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with aquatic neuromuscular training on pain, function, kinesiophobia, knee instability, and quality of life in knee osteoarthritis: a double-blind randomized trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Modulating Brain Activity to Improve Goal-directed Physical Activity in Older Adults: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Trial
- Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation with cognitive training on executive functions in healthy older adults: a secondary analysis from the ACT trial.GeroScience · 2025Trial
- Can transcranial direct current stimulation combined with interactive computerized cognitive training boost cognition and gait performance in older adults with mild cognitive impairment? a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2024Trial
- Anodal HD-tDCS on the dominant anterior temporal lobe and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: clinical results in patients with mild cognitive impairment.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2024Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation facilitates backward walking training.Experimental brain research · 2024Trial
- Effects of Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Retention of Performance Gains on an Obstacle Negotiation Task in Older Adults.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2023Trial
- Trial
- The effects of concurrent bilateral anodal tDCS of primary motor cortex and cerebellum on corticospinal excitability: a randomized, double-blind sham-controlled study.Brain structure & function · 2022Trial
- Targeted tDCS Mitigates Dual-Task Costs to Gait and Balance in Older Adults.Annals of neurology · 2021Trial
- Combining Frontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation With Walking Rehabilitation to Enhance Mobility and Executive Function: A Pilot Clinical Trial.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2021Trial
- Low intensity transcranial electric stimulation: Safety, ethical, legal regulatory and application guidelines (2017-2025: An update) - endorsed by the European Society for Brain Stimulation (ESBS) and by the International Federation for Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN).Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Review
- High-definition tDCS of the motor cortex affects prefrontal and primary motor activity differently in young and older adults.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Group optimization methods for dose planning in tES.Journal of neural engineering · 2025Article
- Recent advances of transcranial electrical stimulation in healthy aging and Parkinson's disease: Effects on dual tasking.Journal of Parkinson's disease · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine the effects of a transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) intervention with the anode placed over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and cathode over the right supraorbital region, on cognition, mobility, and "dual-task" standing and walking in older adults with mild-to-moderate motor and cognitive impairments.
methodsA double-blinded, block-randomized, sham-controlled trial was conducted in 18 nondemented, ambulatory adults aged ⩾65 years with slow walking speed (⩽1.0 m/s) and "executive" dysfunction (Trail Making Test B score ⩽25th percentile of age- and education-matched norms). Interventions included ten 20-minute sessions of tDCS or sham stimulation. Cognition, mobility, and dual-task standing and walking were assessed at baseline, postintervention, and 2 weeks thereafter. Dual tasking was also assessed immediately before and after the first tDCS session.
resultsIntervention compliance was high (mean ± SD = 9.5 ± 1.1 sessions) and no unexpected or serious side effects were reported. tDCS, compared with sham, induced improvements in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment total score ( P = .03) and specifically within the executive function subscore of this test ( P = .002), and in several metrics of dual-task standing and walking ( P < .05). Each of these effects persisted for 2 weeks. tDCS had no effect on the Timed Up-and-Go test of mobility or the Geriatric Depression Scale. Those participants who exhibited larger improvements in dual-task standing posture following the first tDCS session exhibited larger cognitive-motor improvements following 2 weeks of tDCS ( P < .04).
interpretationtDCS intervention designed to stimulate the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may improve executive function and dual tasking in older adults with functional limitations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.